The Voices in My Head
by Wambachjr2
Summary: Annabelle can talk to drgaons through her mind.  More like, she can sense what they're thinking through an alternate set of senses.This ability has kept her alive so far. What happens when a time comes where she must use this to save an entire town? R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! I felt like writing a Reign of Fire story so here it is!

Enjoy!

Wambachjr2

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She knew that smell. She knew it only too well. It was the smell of smoke, and it had haunted her for as long as she could remember. 

A teenage girl lifted herself from the floor of a cave. She had light brown hair tied back in a small braid and a face swarming with freckles. Even in the darkness you could see her bright blue eyes, eyes that seemed to turn your innards to ice if you looked at them long enough. On her hands were a weathered pair of fingerless gloves and a small dagger hung at her waist. This girl was Annabelle. Annabelle Black. It had been three months since the dragons had destroyed her home….her family….her friends. Three months since she had found out about her terrible secret. A secret that gave her a slight advantage over the dragons that permeated the region. The people that believed her when she told them usually drove her away in fear. Again, that was if that was if they _even _believed her.

You see, Annabelle Black could talk to dragons.

Only in her head of course. It was as if she had an alternate pair of senses that allowed her to sense when there was dragon nearby, if it was hungry, or if it, for instance, happened to be sleeping in a cave that she might wish to enter herself. She figured this out when the dragons attacked her hometown. She couldn't understand it when it happened. She kept getting this sense of hunger, a sense of danger, and of a presence that seemed to be just outside the reaches of her brain. It was only about an hour after that did the dragons attack. She will never forget the sight of a black and red sky swarming with millions…millions of dragons. She had never told anyone how she knew that a dragon was about to attack……so they never listened to her, no matter how hard she tried to impress the matter. It was this ability that had kept her alive so far. And, if they had listened to her, would've saved countless others as well.

Annabelle lifted her tattered blanket and shook it. Monstrous clouds of black dust billowed into the air. This was the ash that settled after the nightly winds blew. It got everywhere. In her hair, in her clothes, even in the small rations of bread she was able to scrounge before the rest of her city was burned to the ground. She shook her head, making more ashes fly in every direction.

She dropped her blanket again. It landed on the cave floor with a loud thump that seemed to resound for a long time. In fact, it wasn't stopping. At that moment, Annabelle's heart dropped with a sudden lurch. That wasn't an echo; it was far too continuous and loud.

Those were dragon wings.

At almost that same moment she felt a sharp pang in the back of her brain. That dragon wanted shelter…it wanted her cave.

Annabelle rushed to the mouth of the cave and searched the gray sky. A thick fog had settled over the valley that night and one could hardly tell the difference between fog and the grey mountains which contained her cave. She realized the only way to get away un-sensed was to run, and she best do it now while the dragon was still in the air. She listened intently, trying her best not even to breathe, when she realized the thumping had stopped. There was silence.

It was on the ground.

Annabelle felt cold panic rising in her chest. She peered into the fog, dreading what she might see, a mere three feet from her face. She heard its claws scraping against the dirt as it began to walk. She began to probe her brain for any hint as to where the beast might be, when two large horns poked themselves over the top of the fog… and not but ten feet away.

Running was definitely out of the question.

Her mind raced with options when suddenly she remembered what this dragon would want if it found her.

Ash.

She knew what she had to do. She just needed to do it faster than she ever had before. She rushed back to her pack in the rear of the cave. Pulling out some flint, she dug even deeper looking for the dry wood she always kept at the bottom. Then she hit clothe. She scratched at it hopelessly before tossing the bag aside. Now she could hear the dragon's breathe at the mouth of the cave.

_Thank god it can't see in the fog, _she thought to herself as she glanced around for something dry to burn. She whipped around, panic fogging her brain before she felt something else made from clothe brush her arm. It was her blanket. A sharp jolt at the back of her brain told her that the dragon was close. Too close.

Her arms were shaking as she struck the flint together. The sparks settled on the blanket then smoldered to nothing. She was beginning to hear the dragons footsteps echo through the cave. She dare not look to see if it was there. She struck the flint again this time blowing on the feeble sparks that landed on the blanket. They spread, jumped, then….yes. She had a flame.

But something blew it out.

She felt the hot, foul breathe of the dragon on her back before she knew it was there. She could almost feel it's malevolent yellow eyes boring into the back of her neck. Her arms had frozen. So had her lungs. She couldn't breathe. She could feel the icy panic engulfing her body. The last thing she wanted to turn around and face it. It would take that as a challenge.

Trying to remain calm (as this wasn't the first time she faced death this close) she closed her eyes and allowed her dragon senses to envelope her mind.

_Don't eat me. Don't eat me. I am not ash and nor can I become ash. But, I can make ash. Do not eat me, and I shall give you ash._

She hoped the dragon believed her. She knew that the dragon could fry her to a crisp as easily as any other person, but she couldn't have it believe that. Then she heard a deep, coarse voice on the outskirts of her mind.

_Why can you not become ash?_

Annabelle's mind began racing. If she didn't answer quickly, the dragon would become impatient and probably try anyway. Of course, upon scorching her, it would succeed in finding that she really could be turned to ash. But she wasn't about to give him that chance.

_I'm…I'm…, _she thought desperately, her mind racing with answers, _I'm a rare type of animal from the North. We can't burn. That's why we have survived as long as this._

She could feel the dragon considering her answer. Then she felt it take a large sniff as her clothes rippled about her body. She squeezed her eyes shut as the cold panic began to spread again. She tried to calm herself. She could not let this dragon know that she was afraid.

It spoke again, _You look human. You smell human. Why should I believe that you're not human?_

_Unfortunate resemblance, I'm afraid, _she told it, hoping it would believe her. _Don't forget: I can make you food._

The dragon considered this for a moment then responded.

_Show me._

Annabelle took a deep breathe, trying to move as little as possible and struck the flint, but kept her head straight forward. She didn't dare look at the blanket. She didn't dare move.

_Please light, please light, please light…_She closed her eyes tightly and prayed that this dragon was a patient one.

She opened her eyes just a crack when her heart suddenly jumped in her chest. She saw a flicker on the cave wall. Heat seemed to come from somewhere on the ground. She risked a glance. A small fire was smoldering in front of her. She suppressed a sigh of relief. She couldn't believe it. She might have a chance yet.

_Y-your meal. _She said to the dragon, being sure to indicate the blanket with a small bow. She felt the dragon thinking. She considered maybe praying again.

_Move aside._

Annabelle didn't need to be told twice. She stumbled to her feet and stepped hurriedly out of the dragon's way. Its heavy body lurched forward and sniffed at the burnt blanket on the ground. This dragon's head was about as big as Annabelle's entire body. That was small.

This was only a baby.

That's when Annabelle's heart dropped again. It would want more after just her blanket. She had to run while it was still busy for that blanket was small, and the dragon was already half finished.

Being as quiet and stealthy as possible, Annabelle slowly kneeled down but didn't avert her gaze from the dragon's head. She groped around her on the floor until she felt the familiar coarse clothe that was her bag just to the side of her ankle. Quietly picking it up, Annabelle rose to her feet just as slowly as she had gone down. The dragon only had about a quarter of her blanket left to eat. She turned slowly and began walking toward the mouth of the cave. She could still hear the sound of the dragon eating behind her. The entrance was only about ten feet away when Annabelle heard an ear shattering roar back at the rear of the cave. Her dragon senses told her that it wanted more.

It was still hungry.

Forgetting stealth, Annabelle sprinted to the end of the cave and out into the dense fog. There came that panic again. She couldn't see but two feet around her in every direction but she could hear. And she had her dragon senses. According to what those told her, it was almost on top of her. Though her insides had turned to ice and her muscles had frozen, Annabelle urged them to sprint, sprint as fast as she had ever sprinted in her entire life. She had only gone about six feet when a firm grip grabbed her forearm. She looked down to see a human hand. It yanked her to the side and into a small crevice in the rock that she never would have seen in that fog. It was pitch black there but she could still sense the dragon. It had taken to the air and was searching the ground for her. After a couple minutes in complete silence, she felt a sense of despair come from the dragon.

It had given up.

Annabelle heaved a sigh of relief. She hadn't realized that she had been holding her breathe. She could hear the person who had pulled her aside still breathing hard beside her.

"…erm…Thank you," Annabelle said to them uncomfortably. She wasn't sure that was the first thing someone said in a situation like this.

"Don't mention it," came a thick accent across from her. However, they didn't sound like they meant it at all. It sounded brief and almost a little annoyed. They sat there for a couple of more minutes before Annabelle realized what they was waiting for.

"The dragon's gone, you know," she told them. Maybe they wouldn't ask questions.

"How do you know?" they asked. She could pretty much hear the disbelief in their voice. So much for no questions.

"…erm…I…well, I..." she tried to explain. How could she in order to make them believe her? "I just do."

_Well, that was a lame answer, _she thought to herself.

It was quiet for a moment when the person opposite her got up and peeked around the sides of the small crevice.

"Fine," they said in their quick manner. "Let's go."

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Whew! There it is! Chapter One! well, i hope you all enjoyed it and I hope even more that you tell me how much you enjoyed it (or positively despised it) in a review! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ANYONE WHO REVIEWS!!!!!!!! I appreciate it so much!Thanks! 

Wambachjr2


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry it took me so long to update! Really sorry! Soccer's started and school and all that fun stuff (not really) so I've totally swamped with practice and homework and have had hardly any time to write. Thank you very much for reviewing or even looking at this story!

Enjoy!

Wambachjr2

* * *

He had seen the first of them, back in the very beginning. They had killed his mother and he had been fighting them ever since.

That was all Annabelle had been able to figure out about him in the small while they had been walking across the desolate gray landscape.

And that his name was Quinn.

Since he had told her that, the two had kept walking on in silence; the only noise was their footsteps in the dirt. Annabelle tried to shrug off the tension still inside her from the close encounter that was a little under half an hour ago. She noticed that her pack felt considerably lighter with the familiar weight of her blanket missing.

_Small price to pay for one's life, _she thought to herself as they came to the bottom of a hill, a hill just as gray and bleak as the rest of their surroundings.

"My community is just over this hill," said Quinn, his voice breaking the long undisturbed silence.

"Oh," Annabelle said, slightly off guard by being suddenly addressed. "All right."

Quiet seemed to settle again as the two of them set off up the small mountain, the sandy slopes causing their legs to burn as they climbed. The hill seemed endless. The moment Annabelle began to think they were about to reach the top another seemingly endless stretch would open up from the fog.

Upon reaching a small ridge, they stopped to catch their breath, Annabelle gasping much harder than her companion.

"You not from around here?" Quinn spoke up, his voice surprisingly steady despite their demanding hike.

"No," Annabelle managed to get out in between breathes. "I came from America a couple years ago. My parents had been interested in life over here in Europe so we decided to move. That was before the dragons had really taken over; before we knew that the first one had ever really been awakened…you know…" she trailed off. She wasn't sure if the awakening of the first dragon would be a sensitive subject to Quinn. "I still haven't really gotten use to this mountainous landscape. It was pretty flat where I came from…"

Annabelle decided at this point that it would be best just to stop talking. Quinn also remained silent for a moment.

"Want to keep going?"

"Sure," said Annabelle, trying to keep her breath convincingly steady.

They set off back up the hill, but it was not as steep where they began as the initial half. After what seemed to Annabelle like no less than an hour of climbing, a cool breeze hit them as they topped the crest. The first thing she noticed was the lack of the view. But then she realized how stupid that expectation was when she looked around at the familiar morning fog that gave them not but five feet of vision in front of them.

"Well," Annabelle said, trying to invoke a conversion so they could stay stationary for but a moment longer, "that was fun."

She looked over at Quinn to see what looked like the tiniest hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth but almost immediately regretted saying it. It remained quiet for a while longer, Annabelle desperately hoping they wouldn't set off again right away.

"Your parents," said Quinn quite suddenly. "What happened to them?"

She was slightly taken aback by this. Wasn't it rather obvious? She was by herself, running from dragons, with not but a pack on her back. What did he think had happened to them?

"Three months ago, dragons attacked my home," she said rather quickly, not really wanting to dwell on the subject. "I tried to explain that dragons were coming but no one believed me."

"No one believed you? Hadn't they heard of the other attacks all around the world in the news?"

"I don't know. I think we were one of the last remaining towns that hadn't been touched. I guess all the other residents had figured they were invincible. They just wouldn't believe me."

"How did you know? What made you so sure that they were coming?"

Annabelle's heart suddenly sank into her stomach. She had wandered into very dangerous territory. She was pretty sure Quinn wouldn't believe her if she told him that she could "talk" to dragons any more than her old local butcher. As long as he figured she was normal, she might have a place to stay without having to run and hide every day.

"I… Well, I…" she really did not know what to say. There was no believable excuse coming to mind.

"Erm… Shouldn't we be going?" she said rather abruptly, hoping desperately Quinn would accept this change in conversation, not that she felt quite ready to begin the downhill trek. Though he looked rather confused by the sudden change, he nodded anyway and the two set off again down the slope.

After another short while walking, a large stone fortress appeared seemingly out of nowhere from the dense fog. It was still quite a ways off but the fog had cleared and things that were getting farther and farther away were slowly coming into view. Annabelle also noticed a dirt road branching off to their right.

"Where does that road lead?" she asked Quinn, her breathe steady now that her legs weren't having to defy gravity any more.

"That leads to our crops, pitiful as they are. We keep them so far away so that, if the castle's attacked, survivors will still be able to find some food. It's all we have, after all."

Annabelle noticed her stomach rumble as the idea of food entered the conversation.

"Do you think you could spare a small something for me to eat at your fortress. I haven't had a decent meal in days." She asked. It felt rather awkward to ask that of Quinn. She really hated asking anyone for help.

She again saw a small hint of a smile creep into his features. "I suppose." This allowed her to relax.

"Good. The sooner we start walking, the faster I can eat. Let's go." Annabelle said, setting off before checking to even see if he was ready. She did this on purpose. She had an idea that he wouldn't care either way. Hearing the crunch of his footsteps on the dirt behind her, told her she was right.

As they drew nearer, Annabelle was impressed by the enormity of the fort that looked so much smaller from further away. A falcon called from somewhere off through the fog. This struck her as strange. Where on Earth would a falcon find food, let alone shelter, in surroundings like these? She voiced her question to Quinn.

"It's not wild," answered Quinn from behind her. "It belongs to the man who lives in the watch tower. It's probably telling him someone's approaching." Annabelle, no examining the fortress intently, swore she saw a flutter of wings, another call meeting her ears. But suddenly there was another sound, almost like a deep growl that grew continually louder.

"What's-" Annabelle began, spinning around. But before she even finished her question, Quinn pointed to somewhere behind her. Whipping back around, Annabelle saw what looked like a small, uncovered Jeep driving slowly towards them.

Once they were closer, she noticed two people sitting in the driver's and passenger's seats. The driver was a man who looked like he was about Quinn's age but with black curly hair and an unshaved face, while the passenger looked like he would've been the same age as Annabelle's older sister.

"Been out quite a while, haven't you Quinn?" asked the driver with a distinct Scottish accent. It was then that Annabelle saw the first genuine smile break across Quinn's face. But then the driver had a slight look of surprise across his features as he squinted at the smaller figure at Quinn's side.

"And who might this be?" he asked indicating her. Quinn opened his mouth in answer before pausing and closing it again, a subtle look of realization on his face.

"You know," he said, more to his friend than to anyone else, "she never did tell me her name…"

"Name's Annabelle," she said giving a slight wave, "but people usually call me Annie."

"Annie then," said the driver holding out his hand. Annie walked around to his side of the car to shake it. "Name's Creedy. And that's Jared behind me." Annie looked around Creedy to see the younger boy sitting next to him grin slightly before looking away.

"Why don't you two hop in the back and we'll be on our way," said Creedy, indicating the two empty seats behind him with his thumb. Annie and Quinn got in on the two opposite sides before Creedy turned the vehicle around and headed back towards the steadily growing fortress.

The drive was mostly silent, the only people talking were Creedy and Quinn, and that was only to one another. It wasn't until they were through the large iron gates, the full size of the fortress seeming to bear down upon Annie, did Quinn finally address the four of them. With a sigh he looked around at the emerging people, faces full of surprise at the sight of a newcomer, and said, "Here we are. Home sweet home."

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Well, there it is! i hope you enjoyed it even though nothing actually happens in this chapter and it is actually very short... But I hope you enjoyed it all the same! Please, Please, Please review and I'll try to update sooner this time!

Thanks!

Wambachjr2


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, so I haven't died I swear I just kinda took a break form fanfic for a little while. Anyway, so here's chapter three. And yes, I do realize that I changed the movie a little bit. If you don't notice how I did, great! If you do, well, just keep in mind that it was necessary.

Thanks for being so patient and to everyone who reviewed and/or put me on alist of some sort. I REALLY APPRECIATE IT!

Enjoy!

Wambachjr2

* * *

Annie was aware of the hundreds of eyes boring into the back of her head as she made her way behind Quinn, Creedy, and Jared into what seemed like the main building of the fortress. Whispers were erupting behind them as they made their way through the door, but they were immediately extinguished as it clicked shut behind them. Inside, she noticed that the little light there was, was coming from light-bulbs connected to wires running the length of the roof of the hallway branching off to their left. This particular room, however small, was completely crammed with assorted cooking appliances, some that looked in fine condition, others as though they had been pulled from a heap of trash, adorned with dents and scratches. In the middle were three tables and one bright, solitary light bulb hanging from the middle of the ceiling.

"You said you were hungry," Quinn said, breaking the silence. With a lazy flourish of his hand, he indicated the room in front of him. "Here's the kitchen. Dig in."

Annie was at a loss of words. Not at the idea of a first meal in many days, but of having to find food and actually cook it in this chaotic space.

"Where is the _food_, exactly?" she asked them hurriedly as they began to turn down the hall. Before Quinn could reply, Creedy pointed somewhere behind her and said, "Pantry." Without another word, the three of them stalked off down the hallway and out of side. Annie stood there silently, contemplating her next course of action before turning and placing her pack on the nearest of the three tables. She was immediately grateful for the absence of it's weight from her shoulders.

"So," she said, trying to find exactly where Creedy had been pointing, "there's a pantry…" It took the next couple of mintutes to discern a very abused and narrow doorway positioned just behind a pair of equally neglected cupboards protruding from the wall. It looked so frail that she was almost hesitant to try to open it, but a rumble from her stomach made her think otherwise.

Hesitantly, Annie reached out a hand to open it. It swung forward at her slightest touch and a stale smell met her nose. Fighting the urge to turn away from the scent, she squinted into what looked like the endless darkness beyond the doorframe. From the light in the kitchen she was just able to make out the first few steps of what she assumed was most likely a rather long staircase. Gripping the doorframe tightly, she took a delicate step onto the first stair and was immediately knocked in the nose by something small and light. Squinting into the darkness, she waved her hand cautiously in front of her until it collided with something like string. Feeling along it, she found a small weight at the bottom, and, realizing what it was, pulled on it.

The room in front of her was suddenly flooded with light, however dim. The walls were lined with stone shelves, jars, some dusty and some clean, glittering upon their ledges. Reaching the bottom of what actually turned out to be a rather short flight of stairs, Annie turned directly to her right to the nearest shelf. She picked up the first jar that she saw that wasn't coated in months of dust. In it were some chopped tomatoes floating in what smelled like vinegar, according to the scent that met her nose when she opened the lid. Grimacing at the smell, she replaced the jar back with its dusty companions.

It was another couple minutes until Annie was able to find a jar that contained something other than tomatoes swimming in vinegar. She left the _really _dusty jars alone, figuring that it was for good reason that they had been left undisturbed for so long. The best she was able to find was a small jar of preserved peaches on a bottom shelf in the corner.

_I'll take peaches over sour tomatoes any day,_ she thought to herself as she climbed back up the steps and through the narrow door. Darkness ensued behind as she clicked off the light a lightly pulled the door shut. Rather satisfied with herself, she placed the small jar on the same table that held her pack. She could hardly wait to finally have at least a semi-full stomach after many days with even as much as sour tomatoes. But then another thought crossed her mind.

"Right," she said to herself as she scratched her head and walked around the table. "Bowl."

Annie found it much easier to find a bowl than the peaches, seeing as they were in the cupboard right next to the pantry door. She turned back to her table and, in the same proud manner, placed her slightly-chipped porcelain bowl next to her peaches. Then another caused her to slouch her shoulders. Sighing heavily she walked back around the table mumbling something like, "Spoon."

This was considerably harder to find seeing that there were exponentially more drawers that cupboards in that crowded kitchen. Finally, in the last drawer, she was pleased to see the look of tarnished silver and wood meet her eye. Grabbing the first spoon she saw, she made her way back to her peaches, snatching up a stool as she went.

Refusing to wait any longer, she ripped the lid off the peaches and greedily poured them into her bowl. She nearly threw the jar away as she reached for her spoon and dipped happily into the sweet-smelling mass in her bowl. But then, with the spoon agonizingly close to her mouth, the sound of running footsteps came echoing down the hall. Suddenly, Quinn's form blew past her table and through the door which they had entered. Close behind him, came Creedy.

"Creedy!" she shouted at him just before he was about to sprint through the door, causing him to grab the doorframe for balance.

"Yes?" he inquired breathlessly, also sounding a little bit annoyed.

"What's going on?"

Creedy rolled his eyes at what obviously seemed to him like a very stupid question. Annie couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

"What do you think?" he said as he turned to continue his mad dash. "An emergency!"

At the word "emergency", the thought of dragons automatically came to her mind. She immediately focused in on her dragon senses, but try as she might she couldn't sense hunger or anger in any form.

Satisfied with the fact that dragons were not a part of the problem, Annie suddenly felt torn between her delicious bowl of peaches and growling stomach and her curiosity at what was going on outside. Resolving a way to satisfy both wants, she cast her spoon aside and tipped the contents of her bowl into her mouth. Though she was not able to relish the sweet taste of food, now at least her hunger would be satisfied. Then, wiping her mouth on the back of her sleeve, and leaving her pack on the table with the empty peach jar, sprinted through the door after Creedy.

She wasn't going to be left out that easily.

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Yay! there it is! I hope I didn't put you to sleep with this kinda transition chapter and I really hope you enjoyed and will still give this story a chance if you din't like it becaus eit will get better, I swear! Thanks so much for reading and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks!

Wambachjr2


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